aorta, meaning that her aorta was narrower than normal. This can cause the heart to lose its ability to pump enough blood to other organs, which can result in organ failure. “They told me her sternum was not fully intact and that as soon as she was born, they would know how severe it was and if she needed surgery right away,” Ana says. “I'm a single mom. I was pushed to the brink, thinking of what kind of quality of life my baby was going to have and whether I would be able to handle it on my own. I talked to many people, and I prayed.” PREPARING FOR THE UNKNOWN With three more months to go before her baby’s due date, Ana moved forward, preparing as best she could for the unknown complications she and her baby would experience once she was welcomed into the world. Still, Ana continued to feel physically well. “I was moving around, eating healthy, going to work—I still felt great,” she says. “I stopped working three or four weeks before my scheduled c-section, but only to mentally prepare myself for how she was going to come into the world. I wanted to get all the information I could, so I could expect the unexpected.” In September 2021, Ana went in for her scheduled delivery at a local hospital close to Rady Children’s. The proximity enables newborns with complex medical needs to immediately be transferred to Rady Children’s intensive care units. “As much as I prepared, I was still unprepared for how huge of a surgery a c-section is,” she recalls. “But it didn’t matter. I had to get up and get moving because it wasn’t about me, it was about my little girl, and I had to go see her.” Within a day of giving birth, Ana was visiting her new daughter, Amanda, in the cardiothoracic intensive care unit (CTICU) at Rady Children’s. “The first time I saw her, she was connected to tubes, and it was very overwhelming to see her that way,” she says. “It was sad and depressing, but my family and friends were all there for me, especially my mom. She was a rockstar and she helped me through it.”
16 HEALTHY KIDS MAGAZINE SPRING 2024
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